So here you go...lets start with the losers and end on a high note.
Losers
The Tea Party
Citizens United
Voter Suppression
Nativism (ie, fear)
The Culture War
The War on Women
Taking our country BACK
"You built that"
Mitch McConnell's goal to make this a one term presidency
Karl Rove and his SuperPACs
Unskewed polls
Severe Conservatism
Medicare vouchers
The Bush tax cuts
Winners
Democracy
Citizenship
Moving FORWARD
Perfecting our union
Ground Game
The best campaign team in U.S. political history
Pragmatic progressivism
Women's reproductive health
Obamacare
The middle class
Marriage equality
A balanced approach
The long game
Arithmetic
"We're all in this together"
Oh yeah, and these guys.
Mo'nin, Ms. Pants
ReplyDeleteIt's a GREAT day. And, even though, for we, here, we have the outcome that we desired, there is still SO much to do. And, if Chris Matthews' little rant after PBO's speech is any indication (and, I'm afraid it is), you know what THAT means??
You are STILL needed!!!!
I'm kinda laughin' at your winners and losers summations because you say that each one requires a separate blog post. And, that's because....
You HAVE had separate blog post on every one 'em. But, we're hard headed so REST UP and GET READY.
Mornin' Blackman.
DeleteIts the BEST day!!!!!
Yeah, I heard Matthews last night. While I appreciate his support of PBO over the last couple of months - he CLEARLY doesn't "get" the guy yet. An election tends to put those divisions under wraps. But I FULLY expect them to resurface soon. Of course we'll be here - doing what we can on that front.
FORWARD
Another winner appears to be Democrat Bob Filner, for mayor of my home, San Diego. This would be huge. The Republican, Carl DeMaio, was full of Scott Walker rhetoric and a real danger, and San Diego has always in my memory gone Republican. I have vented my cynicism about my city here more than once. Anyway, as I write Filner has a small but difficult to surmount lead in the count. Absentee ballots remain to be counted.
DeleteAnd not only that, Scott Peters (D) is slightly ahead of Brian Bilbray. Again, this is did not expect. It's very close but the Union-Tribune, a right-wing mouthpiece without shame now that Doug Manchester, our local Koch Brother, bought it, is reporting his lead as "expanding."
I know we're concerned with the national election here, but my point is that a) I'm cautiously thrilled with the local results and b) Obama's victory, outperforming expectations from even 538, was not just at the top. Peters, in particular, had a remarkably good GOTV operation, with volunteers, in a district with higher GOP registration than D. If he takes it, it will be a sign that Democrats have learned how to win things from the Obama campaign's process.
Also, we talk about Red and Blue States, and so CA, reliably Blue for the Presidency, gets left out of the discussion. But CA is huge. San Diego has sent a lot of Republicans to Congress, as has Orange County, Riverside County, and San Bernardino County. Changing those counties is functionally the equivalent of turning some smaller Red States to Blue.
It's not just coattails in a traditional sense, but the model of how to win that Obama's team has provided.
That's wonderful news Bill!!
DeleteIts great not only for the San Diego area - but I've often wondered if the Obama campaign model was doable on the local level. So I'm thrilled that you're seeing those kinds of results.
Well, for the first time in my life we have a party leader who cares about more than winning his own election. Not since Johnson did you have someone who understood all that.
DeleteI don't know if you watched that video of Obama's campaign team being interviewed after the 2008 election. But in it, Axelrod made a fascinating point.
DeleteHe said that his initial worry about Obama was that he didn't have the killer instinct desire for the job. But that what substituted for that as motivation was what he thought he could get done for the people.
I imagine that a lot of people will write that off as just pretty campaign talk. But I think its the truth - and perhaps what distinguishes him from so many other presidents...he didn't need the job to fill his ego.